(Chapter 5: I Love War)

I stand in front of the Townhall with Shattered to my left and Silverwing to my right. The crowd of the soaring people looked at me with suspicion and wonder.

I currently have my helmet off and I’m just realizing how fucking cold it is out here.

I look over to Silverwing and ask her “how many ponies do you have?” She began to think before answering. “We have about 235 civilians. A standing army with 50 warriors. Finally we have 112 slaves“

I nodded my head in approval before walking forward a tiny bit. “As your newfound ruler there are going to be a couple of rules. Rule number one anyone who is a slave will be set free! no questions! Second your previous leader Silverwing will still be in charge of your group The slaves will be coming with me. Finally pack your things you’re moving instantly. Anything you don’t want will be burned here.”

The crowd began to panic and a few became hostile marching up to me. My warriors stop them and I felt a tug on my right shoulder. Turning Silverwing looking at me pleading. “Please don’t send my people to slavery I’ll do anything I swear.”

I face the crowd before walking closer. “Let me explain further” I said as the crowd settled down. “Your homes will be burnt down so that others will live.” The crowd looked at me confused and I didn’t expect them to understand. “if we are to go to war ever again hearing the soaring clan burnt down will give us more edge when negotiating surrender. In secret we will build a new village for all of you to stay in. I’ll make sure that it’s built exactly how your old village was. Every stone to every tree. That way if if you were to stay here a stronger army could easily sweep you away.”

The crowd begin to think a bit before dispersing. I felt the same tug again so I turned around to see Silverwing.

“Sorry I didn’t know what you meant.” she apologized to me. I smile then rubber on the head. “It’s fine like I said I will not have a single slave.” She smiles at me before going into the town hall, most likely going to pack up.

Deciding that I need to have a new start with these people I started walking around, helping where I can. I was mostly helping the elderly along with the former slaves, but once in a while I helped out the common folk.

“You folks are wasting precious time for the warlord! bring only the necessary items and nothing else!” I looked around for the person who is shouting when I saw one of my Warriors threatening a family.

It looks to be a mother and a daughter. Then again she looks a little too young to be a mom so they might be sisters. “Please ma’am!” The The older mare says who looks scared. “It’s just a stuffed animal we can carry it on the way there.”

The guard who I presumed to be a mare got angrier and shouted louder. “Exactly! You could be caring more useful things instead of a stupid stuffed animal” she then proceeded to grab the stuffed animal which looked like a pony.

As I finally made my way over there I decided to let my presence be known. “What seems to be the problem here“ The group jumped at the sound of my voice.

My warrior was the first to answer. “My Lord these two are causing a bit of delay. Instead of caring about anything more important they decided to carry a stuffed animal”

I shake my head a bit before saying. “I remember me saying anything ‘THEY’ don’t want will be burnt down. Not what we wanted“

I could see my warrior pale in the face. “Now repay this family with the kindness they deserve. You will help carry their items all the way back to our village.” I said in a cold tone. She instantly saluted and went into the House to grab a few items.

I look over to the young mare and ask her if she’s alright. “I am quite fine.” She said looking at me curiously. Now that I get a good look at her she doesn’t have any wings. With my curiosity at the front of my mind I asked the question. “How come you’re the first pony i’ve seen without wings?”

She looks confused before answering “oh! I’m a grounded bat pony. Surprisingly enough we make up Half The population of all bat ponies. But this area is mainly thestral Territory, they are the ones with wings. Lastly there are the ancient ones which can cast magic but the only make up of a handful of the population.”

I nodded my head satisfied with the answer before asking “what do you do for a living?”

She smiled a bit and said “I was a blacksmith, but I was exiled from my home and now I live here as a simple extra farmhand. It’s not much but it’s something for me and my sister.”

This brought a smile to my face. “May I get your name?”

She bowed her head and said that she was “Striking Hammer.”

With all the information I gathered I decided to ask her one last question. “Well miss striking how would you like to become my Royal blacksmith? If you wish to accept my offer I will Pay you quite handsomely along with the house for you and your sister.”

Her face lit up and she said “Of course! Of course!” She said while shaking my hand. “Have no fear warlord I’m the best around and I will not disappoint you!”

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I was currently relaxing inside my Town hall ‘office’.

It’s been about a week since we burn down the village. I gave specific orders to everyone to only mention the burning village and not the truth. In a few days our neighbours to the west say that I am a dictator and need to be put down.

This was my true plan. In order to unite the world I cannot be seen as a conqueror. In time the truth will come out but that will be later on down the road. If my enemies strike first I will not be seen as a conqueror. Eventually when I have enough power is when I can start stage three of my plan.

Stage one is nothing more than securing power. I will mostly be figuring out the workings of my army. Improving it anyway I can.

Stage two is the truth that will come out. That is when I will become more of a governor and increase our technology by hundreds of years.

Stage three is- “Sir, you wish to see me?” I heard razor thing say on the other side of my door. ‘Ah it seems like I lost track of time in my thinking’ “yes Shatter you can come in.” I shouted.

As she walked into my office she gave me a polite bow before speaking. “What is it that you would like warlord?”

“Nothing much really except the nearest location for iron, Like your halberd.” At that statement she looked rather confused.

“My Halberd is not like iron. It’s griffin stone. The griffins often come to our islands and sell us their amazing weaponry and armour. It cost me five iron ingots for me to have this. As for iron it’s our currency. Before the great Power struggle the kingdom was rich with iron. We have at least a few thousand ingots.” She explained to me.

My mind nearly exploded with the knowledge of how many ingots they have. Then I realized that Griffin stone and iron are the exact same thing, The bat ponies don’t notice yet. and the griffins use this knowledge to scam all of bat kind.

“Shatter Fang, what I’m about to say to you can never leave this room without my acknowledgement” I said in a serious tone. She got serious and close the door.

“I believe for all these years the griffins have been lying to you.” She looked completely stunned so I had to explain it to her. After I was done explaining why the griffins did it she understood and was pretty pissed off. I then chuckled a bit to myself. “Is there something I’m missing,” she said in an angry tone, but not towards me.

“nothing much, my dear” I reply “but thanks to the griffins we can now guarantee our victory in the island of the bat ponies. So I have decided to repay them in the only way I know how. I made them two extra stages.”

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in the following week I talked to striking if she could make a few armor and weapon adjustments with me. She was thrilled that Griffin stone was just iron but also a bit upset that she had to wait so long to find out. We instantly got to work which gave me a new skill mastery in blacksmithing and crafting.

I’ve also learned that the date is pretty similar to my old world besides a few differences like in names. Here there are six months of winter and three months of spring and three months of fall. Apparently were far more north then I was back home, in fact we only started the second month of winter.

So that’s why I believe it’s the perfect time to train during the winter. If there’s gonna be six months of this or worse we need to be prepared. The nation to our west probably won’t declare war on us until the beginning of spring when it’s easy to walk on the roads. That’s the one thing I loved about the winter. The way it slows down movement and makes it more difficult. I’m getting chills down my spine as I’m just thinking about it.

In front of me stands 200 warriors which I need to make into soldiers. Having a week to think of what I wanted without much backfire.

“Greetings everyone, welcome to training. This is where we will be training for the next five months before going to war.” My calm demeanour set them off as I started to giggle. One unfortunate soul decided to raise their hand and ask a question.

“Umm, sir?” said the mare, I nodded for her to continue. “Why are we training in the winter?”

I simply chuckle at the question before answering. “Because my dear this gives us a perfect time to train without having to worry about being attacked. No one’s going to attack us in the winter because they don’t have the training to do so. But if we get this advantage next winter we will have a huge advantage against our enemies. And in case any of you are wondering why I said before we’re going to war there is one more thing I need to tell you.”

Everyone was getting Nervous as I continued. “We have known each other for a little over two weeks now and there’s already a rumour spreading, about me. This rumour claims that I like war. This rumour is a bunch of bullshit! I don’t like war!.... I… Love… war… I love everything about it. I love every beginning to every end of all Beautiful wars. I love it when two huge armies go toted toe with each other with no information besides killing the enemy. I love desperate Cavalry charges, hoping to destroy their enemies before all of them are gone. I love When an army gets absolutely obliterated. I love retreats, I love traitors, I love horrible generals all the way to great generals. I love foiling my enemies plan and watch them panic as they desperately try thinking of a new one. I love sabotaging my enemy and watch them starve during a long winter campaign. But one of my favourite is the last stand where there is no hope yet you still try…” meny looked scared as I continued with my speech but little did they know that I was far from over.

“In front of me is 200 warriors ready to fight for me. But they believe I am now a madman. Let me tell you what truly is mad. You are bat ponies One of the strongest races of pony kind. Yet they shown you and through you to this island. In time you managed to regrow into a mighty Kingdom only for it to fall. The worst news is there is no record of this to any other nation besides our own. If one day another nation wipes you out Who will be there to carry on your story. You’ll be forgotten in this mad world, a world savaged by war. But I am able to give you a solution. It may cost us many lives but the future for our children will be secured.” They started getting comfortable and a few of them actually agreed. Now it’s time for my killing blow.

“Ladies and gentlemen, standing before you is not a madman, but simply an artist at work. Every stroke of a line we make is a plan going in action. Every design is crucial to the painting and every action is crucial to a war. The reason why I love war is because it shapes the world we live in. So Abandon your titles as warriors, and become one of my soldiers. Help me shape the world in a new image. A world where you will be remembered as the greatest soldiers of our mighty empire. A Bat Pony Empire! No! Our Greek Empire! Abandon your names of the children of fang and Soren! Brand your names of children of Our Greek empire! Because I’ve told you before! I! love! war!”

Author's Note

Apologies for the long wait but at least you can enjoy one more chapter before the end of summer